For the Man Who Has Everything
"For the Man Who Has Everything" is the second episode of , and it was adapted from the story written by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Plot Batman and Wonder Woman have arrived at the Fortress of Solitude to pay their respects to Superman on his birthday. Upon arrival, they discover their Justice League teammate is standing in place, unaware of his surroundings, and under the spell of a mysterious and alien-looking organism. What they do not immediately realize is that the Last Son of Krypton has been subdued by the Black Mercy, an plant from a distant galaxy that renders its victims helpless and delusional in a dreamworld created from their heart's desires. Superman is now trapped in his mind in a most tantalizing prison: a Krypton that never exploded. While in his mind Kal-El is married to a Kryptonian woman named Loana and has a little boy named Van-El, in the real world, Superman is still incapacitated as Mongul appears before Batman and Wonder Woman to reveal the origins of the plant. With Superman trapped in a world he himself has created, Mogul presumes that conquering Earth will now be exceedingly simple. Batman tries futilely to buy time and gather clues about the plant, but Wonder Woman's rage cannot be contained. She engages Mongul, though it is apparent from the start that she is overmatched. Kal-El's journey of the mind takes him before his father, Jor-El, now a tired old man forever shamed by his premature warnings of Krypton's destruction. However Superman now sees the cracks in his false reality, and perhaps the words of his friend Batman, ringing in the real world, are starting to slip through to his subconscious. Batman pulls frantically at the Black Mercy in the real world as Kal-El, now realizing he is simply imagining his new life, tearfully says goodbye to a son who can never exist. The Mercy comes free, but immediately clamps onto the chest of Batman, who now slips into his own dreamworld--a world where Thomas Wayne retaliated and overpowered the gunman that killed him and his wife in reality. Superman tears after Mongul, and a brutally beaten Wonder Woman crawls to Batman's side to help snap him out of his dreamworld. Superman batters the would-be tyrant, even resorting to using his heat vision to burn Mongul's chest. However, before he can strike a decisive blow, Superman is distracted by the statues of his parents holding Krypton aloft, and in his moment of hesitation, Mongul gains the advantage. By now, Wonder Woman has helped Batman break free of the Mercy's illusion. Just before Mongul can slaughter Superman, the villain looks up to see Batman and Wonder Woman--and a familiar plant falling towards him. The plant strikes, freezing Mongul in place and putting him under the spell of the Black Mercy. As the heroes ponder just what it is that Mongul's heart and mind is causing him to experience, Batman comments: "Whatever it is, it's too good for him." Cast Other characters that appear in this episode *Krypto Trivia * The story is derived from the celebrated Alan Moore comic book story of the same name. With the author's permission, the JLU creative team made several key changes. * Unlike the DC Comics version, Robin is not present. The original story featured the Jason Todd Robin, who turned out to be the one who saved Superman from Mongul. * Here, Wonder Woman's ironic present is a new flower called the "Krypton," while Batman's gift ("What do you get for the man who has everything?") is simply a card with cash. The original story depicted Batman presenting the new breed of flower and Wonder Woman presenting Superman with a reproduction of the bottled city Kandor. * Kal-El's "wife" is Loana, an obvious merger of Lois Lane and Lana Lang, with Lois's voice. * Many of the cues were taken verbatim from the original story, including Superman's vicious heat vision attack on Mongul and his subsequent curse: "Burn." * The supercomputer Brainiac, which fled the destroyed Krypton, never had to leave Superman's imaginary home. In fact he's the friendly, helpful robot butler of every Kryptonian household! * The comics story had Kal-El's "dream" Krypton depicted in more detail, and featured a subplot of a rebellion against society involving Jor-El and cousin Kara. * DCAU viewers do not get to see Mongul's fantasy as it was depicted in the comics: he imagines killing Superman and all of the heroes, and ruling over Earth--creating a new Warworld. References *General Zod *Kandor *The Mark Of Zorro Category:JLU episodes